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Wednesday, 27 April 2016

Blog Day 24
– Lien Son to Lam Ha- climbs, chains and friendly ladies!

And
we're off - on the very last of our three Evil Bitch Days. It was a bit of a
grueling start, as a 5.30am start to beat the heat and the climbs meant that we
had to get up before the sun had risen. But after a few banh mi trungs, we were
all off.

Laurel’s
fiancé Adam caused the first waves of the day, with their bike ‘Doris’ (no
comment) not starting due to a dodgy petrol purchase – and he, along with
Doris, were soon keeping Mr Cuong company in his van.

The
first Grade 3 climb was soon outside Lam Ha, but everybody managed it and there
were some nice downhills on the other side (with a few hammock stops en route)
before we hit a massive lake with a floating village below the bridge.

There were
two Grade 2s starting at 52km and 74km. The first 2 started off relatively
easily but then went pretty much straight up from 62km to 72km mark. The second
2 was from I think 84km to 92km, and was followed by a long, steep downhill
into Lam Ha, where we had a bit of hotel woes, but they were soon sorted out,
especially after a number of us spent the night at Lam Ha’s infamous Munich
Beer Hall.

All
in all Day 24 turned out to be challenging but doable.

Climbs
- The last of our big climb days. While the climbs were pretty serious, the
whole team seemed to manage, helped by the cloud cover (and the rain which
affected some) which kept the heat down.

Chains
- poor Kate Grigg had
more chain woes (and on a particularly steep climb) but was soon back up and at
'em.

Finally, friendly ladies - Laurel Winter,
Tony Martin & I were
all propositioned by the local 'friendly lady'. But you can probably imagine my reaction
when she suddenly got off one 'customer's' motorbike and started making suggestions. This, mind, was while I was taking a water break
(drink not pee) halfway up the first steep climb in deep jungle. Needless to
say, I cycled the second half of that climb with even more speed. She was one
scary lady (sorry no pic). H2H team 2017 – consider yourself warned!

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What H2H Is

H2H - Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City - is a charity bicycle ride that first took place in 2009. It is organized by volunteers and the funds raised go towards Vietnamese organizations that work with poor and disadvantaged children. The ride lasts for a month, and takes place every April. If you'd like to learn more, contact h2h.ride@gmail.com.